Trauma

"We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present. Trauma results in a fundamental reorganisation of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think."

― Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

What is Trauma?

Trauma isn’t limited to violence in a far away war or in an international conflict. Traumatic events happen all around us. It can happen to us, our friends or family. As Kolk*argues, It leaves a shadow over our minds & bodies. So, what is Trauma? You might like to think of it as a kind of emotional or psychological wound. The term has its origins in Ancient Greece where it refers to a piercing of the skin.

However, in contemporary psychoanalytic psychotherapy we can think about how the mind, as well as the body, can be pierced and wounded by shocking and disturbing events.

Trauma, is an event, or series of events, where extreme stress overwhelms our ability to cope. These experiences can sometimes exceed our ability to manage, cope or integrate our emotions and feelings associated with the event. As the brain and mind attempts to re-channel the excess stress you may also feel in physical pain as well but unsure of its origins.

Traumatic events & experiences can arise either repeatedly and cumulatively, usually over a sustained period of time and within specific relationships and situations or can be where we can see that we are in danger, or where we witness other people dying or being injured; even hearing about an unexpected death or injury of a close friend or family member can also lead to a post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). That sense of feeling overwhelmed can often be delayed by months, years or even decades.

Because of the painful and difficult nature of traumatic memories, they are often hidden deep and sealed off within our unconscious mind as we form an entrenched psychological shield around them, finding methods of coping until a trigger or event reminds us of our experience and we are re-traumatised and overwhelmed.

If you are suffering from some of the above symptoms, the traumatic experience has no doubt left an indelible imprint on your mind, body & soul. So much of your traumatic history is stored in your body, so you may feel, at times, your heart racing, a nauseous anxiety, a loss of control.

Trauma robs you of the feeling that you are in charge of yourself…The challenge of recovery is to reestablish ownership of your body & your mind-of your self

How can trauma be treated?

I believe, that almost all psychological suffering entails a difficulty in creating and maintaining close relationships and/or a struggle in how we respond to situations and those around us. Feeling safe with your therapist is the first step in healing from trauma.

Feeling compassion for yourself is another path which together, we will explore. In order to gain control over your self you will need to revisit your traumatic experience(s). Sooner or later you will need to confront what has happened to you but only after you feel safe. My approach is a collaborative process but also a holistic one. As I believe, trauma can be stored in the body, it makes sense that a body therapy, such as Yoga, or a body therapy which you find beneficial, is encouraged by me to run along our psychotherapy sessions.

Along side my private practice, I have a specialist clinical interest in the psychological impact of trauma, identity and forced migration. I currently work for part of the week as a psychotherapist delivering psychotherapeutic trauma support to men & women within an award winning service and joint venture between Tavistock & Portman Foundation NHS Trust & the British Red Cross.

As part of a small team, I played an integral role in setting up and developing the service which supports refugees, some of whom are facing significant practical & immeasurable psychological pain & challenges in accessing primary & secondary mental health services across London.